With unique tenderness and sensitivity, one of Brazil’s most important publishers recounts what it means to live in the shadow of a generational trauma. A family story of loss, death and silence in the enduring aftermath of the Holocaust.
As a child, Luis Schwartz, of Hungarian descent, knew very little about his grandfather. As he grew up, he would learn that his grandfather had ordered his father, André, to jump from the train taking them to the concentration camp, where he himself met a horrific end. Until then, he had known only that his father was an unhappy man. How his melancholy had cast a shadow over their home. Despite the heavy veil of this sorrow, Louis managed to become a tremendously successful publisher, filling the family’s silence with books. Until, at the height of his career, he collapsed.
Bringing these family memories to life with moving honesty, Schwartz describes how depression and personal or family trauma can haunt anyone’s psyche. Even those who appear happy or successful.
- Pages: 216
- ISBN: 978-960-572-749-9
- Publication: 2025
- Date of publication: 28/04/2025
- Dimensions: 13.3 x 20.5 εκ.
- Categories: Books, Essays & Thought, Δοκίμιο
"Τούτο το βιβλίο δεν είναι απλώς ένα αυτοβιογραφικό ημερολόγιο σκοτεινών παιδικών ημερών. Είναι μια γενναία αποδοχή της πάθησης, μια προσπάθεια επούλωσης ή και συμφιλίωσης με όσα βίωσε και, ίσως, μια κατάφαση για τη ζωή που υπάρχει στο μέλλον γι’ αυτόν."
– Διονύσης Μαρίνος, Book Press"Δεν είναι εύκολο βιβλίο. Είναι, όμως, τίμιο. Και γι’ αυτό πολύτιμο. Γιατί μας θυμίζει πως η ψυχή δεν είναι κάτι που φαίνεται, αλλά κάτι που –σχεδόν πάντα– κρύβεται. Και πως μόνο η αφήγηση, όταν είναι ειλικρινής, μπορεί να της ξαναδώσει ανάσα."
– Σπύρος Σμυρνής, In2lifeLuiz Schwarcz
Luiz Schwarcz was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1956. He began his career as an editor at the publishing house Brasiliense and later founded the publishing house Companhia das Letras in 1986. In 2017, he received the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award for his overall contribution to the publishing world. He is the author of the children’s books *Minha vida de goleiro* (1999) and *Em busca do Thesouro da Juventude* (2003), and the short story collections *Discurso sobre o capim* (2005) and *Linguagem de sinais* (2010).
